1744 Words of an Onondaga Chief

You who are so wise must know that different nations have different conception of things. You will not therefore take it amiss if our ideas of the white man's kind of education happens not to be the same as yours. We have had some experience of it.

Several of our young people were brought up in your colleges. They were instructed in all your sciences; but, when they came back to us, they were all bad runners, ignorant of every means of living in the woods, unable to bear either cold or hunger. They didn't know how to build a cabin, take a deer, or kill an enemy. They spoke our language imperfectly.

They were therefore unfit to be hunters, warriors, or counsellors; they were good for nothing.
We are, however, not the less obliged for your kind offer, though we decline accepting it. To show our gratefulness, if the gentleman of Virginia shall send us a dozen of their sons, we will take great care with their education, instruct them in all we know, and make men of them.

Canassatego - Treaty of Lancaster

Lancaster Treaty of 1744

June 1744- Native-American chiefs of the Six Nations relinquish by treaty all claims to land in Maryland colony. Assembly purchases last Indian land claims in Maryland.

Lancaster, June 29, 1744

 Chief Canassatego spoke as follows:

Brethren,

YESTERDAY you spoke to us concerning the Lands on this Side Potowmack River, and as we have deliberately considered what you said to us on that Matter, we are now very ready to settle the Bounds of such Lands, and release our Right and Claim thereto.


WE are willing to renounce all Right to Lord Baltimore of all those Lands lying two Miles above the uppermost Fort of Potowmack or Cohongoruton River, near which Thomas Cressap has a hunting or trading Cabin, by a Northline, to the Bounds of Pennsylvania. But in case such Limits shall not include every Settlement or Inhabitant of Maryland, then such other Lines and Courses, from the said two Miles above the Forks, to the outermost Inhabitants or Settlements, as shall include every Settlement and Inhabitant in Maryland, and from thence, by a North-line, to the Bounds of Pennsylvania, shall be the Limits. And further, If any People already have, or shall settle beyond the Lands now described and bounded, they shall enjoy the same free from any Disturbance whatever, and we do, and shall accept these People for our Brethren, and as such always treat them.


WE earnestly desire to live with you as Brethren, and hope you will show us all Brotherly Kindness; in Token whereof, we present you with a Belt of Wampum.


In payment, the Iroquois Nation received: Four Pieces of Strowds, Two Hundred Shirts, Three Pieces Half-Thicks, Three Pieces Duffle Blankets, Forty Seven Guns, One Pound Vermillion, One Thousand Flints, Four Dozen Jews Harps, One Dozen Boxes, One Hundred Two Quarters Bar-Lead, Two Quarters Shot, and Two Half Barrels of Gun-Powder.

"We know our lands have now become more valuable. The white people think we do not know their value; but we know that the land is everlasting, and the few goods we receive for it are soon worn out and gone."
-Canassatego


The proceedings of the treaty can be read here, Lancaster Treaty. It is fascinating reading as you watch the cultures collide.

1744 Maryland

June 15, 1744- Frances Decalus Drury is born to John Drury and Susannah Hayden in St. Mary's, Maryland.

(Frances Decalus Drury is my 4th great grand aunt.)

1744- Anne Newton, daughter of Clement Newton, is born in St. Mary's, Maryland.

(Anne Newton is my 4th great grand aunt.)

1744- John Worland III marries in Charles County, Maryland. This could have been his marriage to Rebecca, although other sources claim this marriage was to another unnamed first spouse.

(John Worland III is my 4th great grandfather.)

1744- John Knott marries Elizabeth Skeen in St. Mary's, Maryland.

(John Knott is my 5th great grandfather.)

1744 Pennsylvania

1744- Elizabeth Thomas is born in Germantown, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.

1745 Virginia

1745- Mary Russell is born in Hillsborough, Virginia.

(Mary Russell is my 5th great grandmother.)

1745- Fairfax Monthly Meeting of Friends is established.

The Friends Meeting took the name Fairfax in 1745, honoring the county it was in at the time, though Loudoun County would be carved out of Fairfax 12 years later.


Meetings for worship could be held anywhere and were often held in members homes. They might be called indulged meetings or particular meetings. They were usually held on First-days (first day of the week) and sometimes one was held during the week. No preacher or leader was used, as the oral ministry of any member could be given. Sometimes the entire meeting was given over to the silent communion of worship.

Monthly Meetings were business meetings where official records were kept of births, deaths, and marriages, and of the work of committees who were charged with the welfare of the membership. There were separate monthly meetings for men and women. While Quakers gave women much more equal status than was usual in the early days of America - the men's meetings took care of Quaker business in their interaction with the outside world, while the women's meetings had the task of maintaining discipline within the ranks of the female members of the Quakers. Meetings were presided over by Elders, assisted by Overseers who had oversight of such things as taking care of the needy. Quaker ministers had a calling from God and were often called to travel so they did not preside over meetings. Elders actually had oversight over ministers that they did not overstep the bounds of proper Quaker behavior. The traveling ministers fulfilled somewhat the same function as traveling minstrels in Europe in that they were also carriers of news.

Gwynedd and North Wales, Pennsylvania

North Wales is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is one of the three historic population centers that make up the North Penn Valley. The population was 3,342 at the 2000 census.
As its name suggests, North Wales was settled by Welsh immigrants who named it after North Wales in Wales. Part of a 1702 William Penn land grant, this rich farming country was given the name "Gwynedd" for the homeland of the earliest settlers and it began as a pastoral village in agricultural Gwynedd Township. In 1741, Gwynedd contained 93 taxables, and Montgomery township 54.

The Welsh Tract, also called the Welsh Barony, was a portion of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania settled largely by Welsh-speaking Quakers. It covers 40,000 acres to the west of Philadelphia. The original settlers, led by John Roberts, negotiated with William Penn in 1684 to constitute the Tract as a separate county whose local government would use the Welsh language, since many of the settlers spoke no English. Notwithstanding this agreement, by the 1690s the land had already been partitioned into different counties, despite appeals from the Welsh settlers, and the Tract never gained self-government.

The area is now part of Montgomery, Chester, and Delaware counties. Many towns in the area still bear Welsh names. Some, such as Lower Merion, Upper Merion, Bala Cynwyd, Radnor and Haverford Township, are named after places in Wales. Others, such as Tredyffrin or Uwchlan, have independent Welsh names. Some communities in the area that formerly comprised the Welsh Tract were subsequently given Welsh names. Among these were Gladwyne, formerly "Merion Square" (which was given its new name in 1891 in order to imitate the stylish Welsh names of adjoining towns, although the name is meaningless in Welsh), and Bryn Mawr, formerly "Humphreysville" (which was renamed in 1869).

1745 Pennsylvania

1745- Jane Conard is born in Gwynedd Township, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Anthony Conard and Sarah Hatfield.

(Jane Conard is my 5th great grand aunt. Our common ancestors are Anthony Cunard and Sarah Hatfield.)

Nathan Potts born to David Potts and Ann Roberts in Germantown, Pennsylvania.

(Nathan Potts is my 5th great grand uncle. Our common ancestors are David Potts and Ann Roberts.)

September 27, 1745- Reiner Theissen dies in Fitzwatertown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. His obituary read: "He was innocent and inoffensive in life and diligent in attending his religious meetings." According to William Penn and the Dutch Quakers, Reiner became a man of large wealth and much influence but is said to never have learned to write his name.

(Reiner (Reinert) Theissen is my 8th great grand uncle.)

1745 Maryland

1745- John Robey Worland born to Rebecca and John Henry Worland (John III) in St. Mary's, Maryland.

(John Robey Worland is my 3rd great grand uncle.)

John Basil Knott is born to John Knott and Elizabeth Skeen in St. Mary's, Maryland.

(John Basil Knott is my 4th great grandfather.)

Henry Thomas Newton born to Thomas Newton and Susannah Howard at St. Mary's, Maryland.

(Henry Thomas Newton and I are 1st cousins 6 times removed. Our common ancestors are Thomas Newton and Katherine.)

Catesby Cocke, Land Speculation and George Washington

1725-1742: Prominent Tidewater Virginia politicians and businessmen buy huge tracts in this era of land speculation. William Fairfax, uncle of Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax, amasses more than 35,000 acres; Francis Awbrey, 29,000 acres; Catesby Cocke, 23,000; John Colvill, 22,000; Robert Carter, Lord Fairfax's real estate agent, 21,000. These five own 40 percent of future Loudoun's 330,800 acres. The land is often leased in 100- to 200-acre tracts or after a few years is sold; many double their money.

William Cocke and son, Catesby
Dr. William Cocke, of Suffolk, England, came over to Virginia in June, 1710 and settled at Williamsburg. He came over in the Deptford with Alexander Spotswood, and lived there prior to about 1720.

It is known that Dr. Cocke came as private physician to Lt. Governor Spotswood. Then, in June, 1712, Dr. Cocke was sworn in as Secretary of the Colony of Virginia. He had been recommended to this office by Spotswood and Edmund Jenings, former Secretary of State and former acting Governor. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Cocke had sent for his wife, Elizabeth Catesby Cocke, sister of Mark Catesby, the naturalist; and his two children who were in England. They arrived in the Hanover in April, 1712. Apparently, Catesby was with them for a few days after they had been met and taken to Williamsburg in the Governor's coach. Soon Dr. Cocke, his family and Catesby were visiting at "Westover." Cocke had been a classmate of William Byrd in England.

By 1713 Dr. Cocke had been appointed to the Council. From 1716-1718 he was in England on business for the Colony. On October 22, 1720 he "was struck with a fit of apoplexy in the Capitol and died immediately and fell on me," so reported Byrd. Dr. Cocke left a widow and six children: Mrs. Elizabeth Cocke Pratt (widow), Catesby (born 1702), William, Anne, Susanna and Lucy.

He was a member of the Council, Secretary of the Province and a Judge of the General Court.

Catesby Cocke, his son, lived at Belmont, Fairfax County. Catesby Cocke lived next door to George Mason's Gunston Hall and across the Potomac River from Nathaniel Chapman. He was the first Clerk of the Court for both Prince William County and Fairfax County. Like many wealthy men of the day, Catesby was a land speculator. In 1731, 292 acres of land on both sides of Broad Run in Thoroughfare Gap were patented to him by permission of Lord Fairfax. Since he never made any improvements of the land, he had to relinquish it to Lord Fairfax in 1737. Subsequently, Godfrey Ridge bought the land and flipped it to Jonathan Chapman for 10 pounds in 1741. In 1742 Jonathan Chapman bought a sliver of land that would enable the Chapman Mill head race to reach Broad Run above the 87 feet it descends. This information suggests the mill could have been built any time after 1737 and before 1742.

Catesby Cocke and George Washington, Tax Evaders

In making a schedule of his property, an owner took an oath that the list recorded everything subject to taxation. If a man omitted one carriage or slave, he perjured himself.
As inscribed in the hand-written, leather-bound book of the court, the following is the report of the Grand Jury of Fairfax County, Colony of Virginia, rendered to the court on May 21, 1760. The names of the 15  defendants add some color and character, humor and historical interest, to the proceedings.
"We present George William Fairfax, George Washington, John Carlyle, Daniel French, Robert Bogges, Catesby Cocke, Townshend Dade, Sylbill West, Garrard Alexander, J. Emima Minor, William Ramsay, Benjamin Grayson, George Mason, John Plummer, Daniel McCarty and Abraham Barnes for (not) entering their wheeled carriages agreeable to law, as appears to us by the list delivered to the clerk of the county."

1746 Virginia

November 16, 1746- David Potts leased a tract of land from Catesby Cocke, for five shillings in hand paid, with power to purchase. The lease covered a tract of 866 acres on Kittockton Run, in Fairfax County. The annual rental was one ear of Indain corn. Later, Catesby Cocke and his wife Mary conveyed the land by deed to David Potts, who is described as yeoman.

David Potts was a prosperous yoeman or freeholding farmer. He had intended this ground to comprise his home plantation for the support of his family and near relatives.

David Potts was descended from Quaker stock from Pennsylvania, but lived among the Baptists of Virginia. He was a slave owner.

Early on, the Quaker church had championed the manumission of slaves and the abolition of slave labor. But that had little to do with Loudoun County during the colonial era. The Quakers of the time were losing members to other Protestant churches, and some of the leaders of the Fairfax meeting were slaveowners. In the end, they were simply colonials.

David Potts was also an entrepreuner who developed plantations and a water grist-mill near the Gap of Short Hill on the waters of the North Fork of Catoctin Creek.

 

1746- Daughter Jane Potts is born to David and Ann Potts in Loudoun County, Virginia.
 
(Jane Potts is my 5th great grand aunt. Our common ancestors are David Potts and Ann Roberts. David Potts is my 6th great grandfather.)

Kittockton

Catoctin Mountain is the easternmost spur of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a part of the Appalachian Mountain Range. Catoctin is a mountain ridge running northeast/southwest for about 50 miles from near Emmitsburg, Maryland to near Leesburg, Virginia.

The ridge has no single peak or knob called "Catoctin Mountain" and so is sometimes referred to as the "Catoctin Mountains".

The name "Catoctin" probably derives from the Kittoctons, an American Indian tribe or clan which once lived between the mountain and the Potomac River.

Catoctin is a name used for both a mountain and a stream. Smithsonian ethnologists say that the mountain range was named first and that it means "ancient wooded hill." A local tradition asserts that "Catoctin" means "place of many deer" in an Indian language. Early Loudoun spellings of the mountain and stream prefer "Kittockton," with the accent on the middle syllable.

Catoctin Mountain is best-known as the site of Camp David, a mountain retreat for Presidents of the United States. The resort is extremely well-guarded by the United States Secret Service, and only approved guests of the President are allowed into the retreat.

1747 Virginia

June 9, 1747- David Potts leased for one year, 333 acres, part of a tract of 866 acres on Kittockton Run in Fairfax County, to William Williams at an annual rental of one ear of Indian corn. Later, David Potts and his wife Ann sold the land to Williams.

(David Potts is my 6th great grandfather.)

Tidbit on William Williams:
Williamsburg, January 2, 1752.
WHEREAS I have lately had the Misfortune to lose my Wife, which hath quite frustrated my Intention of settling in this City; I therefore, hereby, give Notice, That on Monday the 13th instant I intend to expose to Sale, for ready Money, at the House where Col. Jones lately lived, sundry Sorts of Household Goods, and also Womens wearing Apparel. And I hereby give Notice, That I intend to depart this Colony, for England, by the first Ship that sails from hence.

Signed: William Williams

Nothing further could be ascertained about William Williams.

Notes on Names- Thones, Cunraed and other German Confusion

The will of Aret Klincken, 1707, mentions Kunrad Kunders. This was the eldest son of Thones Kunders, who signed his name in later life as "Cunraed Cunraeds." His first name was in honor of an ancestor bearing the name Conrad or Coenrad, etc.

Eunicke Klincken, wife of Cunraed Cunraeds, was later known as Ann or Anne.

Thones Kunders' name was variously anglicized as Dennis Conrad, Dennis Conrads or Dennis Cunrads. Dennis was a close rhyme to Thones, which is an old variant of Anton or Anthony. The name Dennis and the name Anthony appear many times in Kunders' descendants, and both referred back to Thones Kunders and/or Thones Klincken, Aret's father. In the name Thones, the 'h' was silent, and sometimes it is seen as Tunis, Toonis, Teunes, and pronounced somewhere between Tennis and Toonis.The surnames Tunis, Tennis, are old remnants of the given name Thones.

Aret Klincken had a brother named Abraham Tunis. Aret Klincken was also referred to as Arnold. The name Aret was generally translated as Arnold.
Niske is also found as Nis or Nees, later referred to as Agnes. Some unwitting researchers have called the same person "Niske Agnes" or "Nees Agnes" not knowing that they were repeating the same name.

1747 Pennsylvania

1747- Cunraed Cunraeds, the oldest child of Thones and Elin Kunders, seems to have spent most of his married life in Worcester Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and died there in 1747, aged sixty-nine years.
His will was dated Feb. 2, 1747, and was proved in March of the same year, showing that he died between those dates. His wife probably died before him, not being mentioned in the will.
His oldest son, Anthony, was willed five shillings. In 1737, Cunraed had deeded a farm of seventy-five acres to his son, Anthony, and may have considered that Anthony had received his proper share. (Anthony would not long survive his father, he died within weeks of his father's death. I would guess this was the result of some illness or an epidemic, I am researching this.)
His son Henry was given the homestead "the 100 acres I bought of Anthony Morris." This is supposed to have been the Heebner farm, near the Worcester creamery.
His third son, James, received the residue of his father's land. He and Henry were the executors. One son, John, seems to have been of weak or infirm mind, as his share of /40 is left in trust to his brothers, Anthony and Henry. He had six children, all sons, named respectively, Anthony, Henry, James, John, Joseph and Dennis, all of whom married and had children except John and Joseph.

(Cunraed Cunraeds is my 7th great grandfather.)

March 1747- Anthony Cunraeds (Conard, Cunard) dies in Worcester Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. In his will, he is referred to as a yoeman, son of Cunraed. His will was proved at Salford, March 17, 1747. It names his wife, Sarah, cousin Daniel Morgan, his brother James and his children, and his children: John, Jonathan, Margaret, Elizabeth, Ann, Jane, and an unborn child.
 
(Anthony Cunard is my 6th great grandfather.)
 
1747- Agnes Conard is born to Sarah Hatfield Conard sometime after the death of her father, Anthony Conard.

The Maryland Tobacco Inspection Act of 1747

The Maryland Tobacco Inspection Act of 1747 established that all tobacco had to be inspected by colonial inspectors. Once the tobacco was inspected, tobacco "notes" were issued that certified the quality. Whoever held these tobacco notes owned the tobacco. A grower could pay a merchant 100 pounds of tobacco by simply signing over the notes to him. That way, he could go to the warehouse with the notes in hand and claim the tobacco as his. He could also give the merchant an I.O.U. that promised to pay him 100 pounds of tobacco in the future, when his crop came in. Before the Inspection Act, the merchant would be less willing to accept this I.O.U., since he would not be sure of the quality of tobacco. After the Inspection Act, the I.O.U. could promise to pay in "certified" tobacco.

Paper tobacco notes more easily functioned as money because bulk tobacco was hard to transport and the quality of tobacco was assured.

1747 Maryland

February 15, 1747- Anastasia Worland is born to Rebecca and John Worland III in Charles County, Maryland.

(Anastasia Worland is my 3rd great grand aunt.)

September, 1747- John Pike marries Kezia Hackett in St. Mary's County, Maryland.

(John Pike is my 5th great grand uncle. Our common ancestors are Lucy and Archibald Pike.)

1747- William Newton is born to Thomas Newton and Susannah Howard in St. Mary's County, Maryland.

(William Newton and I are 1st cousins 6 times removed. Our common ancestors are Katherine and Thomas Newton.)

1748 Virginia

October 31, 1748- David Potts was taken under the care of the Fairfax Monthly Meeting on October 31, 1748, as shown by the following minutes of that date:
 "David Potts having been for a considerable time under the care and notice of Friends, now requests to be received as a member in unity, and nothing appearing to obstruct, his request was granted."

At the same meeting his sons Jonas and Jonathan Potts were also received into membership, and his
daughter Ann Potts appeared in the declaration of intended marriage with John Vestal. As David's other
children were afterwards recognized as members of the meeting, it is probable that his own acceptance
carried with it that of his minor children.

(David Potts is my 6th great grandfather.)

1748 Maryland

1748- Elizabeth (Hussey) Luckett, mother of Sarah Hines Luckett, dies in Port Tobacco, Charles County, Maryland.

(Elizabeth Hussey is my 7th great grandmother.)

Practices of the Quakers During the Colonial Period

A couple desiring to marry had to declare their intentions before a regular weekly Meeting of their local society. Appointed overseers would then conduct an investigation of the character of each. If nothing derogatory was found, the wedding was approved.

A check was kept by the local society with respect to the wedding date and the birth of the first child. A premature baby was examined by three women from three Meetings, often resulting in society records being annotated with an "F/B" meaning "relations before marriage and an illegitimate child, or "F/M" meaning the same, but that marriage had followed. Both situations must be condemned by the involved parties if they wished to remain with the society.

Persons who died were frequently returned to a former residence for burial. Some societies condemned headstones as a sign of vanity and often removed those already in place. Often burial places were left unmarked so that Indians would not know how many had died.

Meetings of the societies were held in the daytime and attendance was checked, carefully. First-day meetings were required attendance and midweek meetings were optional; but the member was judged on his spirituality by his attendance pattern.

A "certificate of clearance" was required to marry or to move into another local society. It would not be given if there were outstanding debts.

 Prior to 1753—and unofficially for some time afterward—they followed an unusual practice of numbering the months of the year. It was forbidden to refer to the usual names given for months such as January, February, etc., because those names were of pagan derivation. The numbering system began with March and so they would use, for instance, "1 mo. 25, 1703," meaning March 25, 1703.

 Their belief in non-violence, of course, precluded their serving in any military capacity and may explain why so few of the Potts Quakers served in the Revolutionary War.

Public acknowledgement was required for all sorts of misdeeds. This usually meant condemning their own actions by confession at a local Meeting. Meeting minutes were made of all known misdeeds, confessed

or not!

1749 Maryland

1749- Ignatius Newton is born to Thomas Newton and Susannah Howard in St. Mary's, Maryland.

(Ignatius Newton and I are 1st cousins 6 times removed.)